| Date: December 4, 2006 |
| Location Siltcoos Lake Trail Hike |
| Where: Siuslaw National Forest |
The Siltcoos Lake Trail has been on my 'to-do' list for some time because it is one of the very few coastal trails that lend itself to an overnight backpacking trip. That is to say, it's a trail on which it's possible to hike a couple of miles and camp in a somewhat remote and primitive campsite.
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| Jim, John & Jeanette admire the tall spruce trees Joining me in the exploration of this trail were, my wife Jeanette, and friends Ed Harrod and John Compton. We were all equally impressed with the dense towering Sitka Spruce forest. The understory was very open, with ferns, salal, and moss.
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| Ed points out a springboard notch on an old cedar stump Evidence is easy to spot of the huge old cedar and fir trees that were clear-cut in the 30s. The replanted trees form a tick uniform forest with an open understory that make for pleasant surroundings for this trail to wind its route to Siltcoos Lake.
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| dueling photographers at the south camp At the two-mile point we took a spur trail a quarter of a mile to the south campsite, which is equipped with a picnic table. From there we took a connecting link to the north campsites of which there are five all with tables. The trail back was marred only by the skid marks of thoughtless mountain bikers, speed-demons who had locked up their brakes, scraping the forest duff off of the trail down to the bare soil. It's times like this when I began to think that maybe mountain biking is not compatible with hiking.
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| Siltcoos Lake from south camp by Ed Harrod |
